(Note: This article was published on The Christian Grandfather Magazine.)
I became a Christian over 45 years ago. I have been reading the Bible a long time.
I was fortunate to take two seminary classes (30 years apart) on hermeneutics, the study of Bible interpretation. These classes were a tremendous help. However, I truly learned how to understand and apply the Scriptures by consistent practice. This has brought a depth to my own personal walk of faith in Jesus Christ.
I have observed that many other Christians have never learned how to meditate on or apply Scripture. As a result, those who do not know how to feed themselves have developed an unhealthy dependence on others to teach them. They have also missed the joy of discovering God’s truths for themselves.
I would like to share a few techniques that I have learned in my own journey to know God’s Word better, how to pull some deeper understanding of its meaning, and most importantly, how to apply it.
Personalize the passage
To get the most of any Bible reading, we not only need to read carefully to understand the context and what the author was trying to get across to his original audience, but we also need to figure out what the implications are for us now. What is it that we need to do, based on what we just read?
Let’s take Ps. 23:1. What is the meaning of “the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”?
It means that David sees Yahweh as a shepherd and himself as a sheep. He is expressing his utmost confidence in God’s attributes of faithfulness and lovingkindness. David will follow God’s leading.
We cannot stop there. We must think about what is implied for us. Is the Lord my shepherd, too? Is He someone I can trust as I go through my own difficult journeys? Can I be content as He leads?
Let me share a story of what I discovered while meditating on the 23rd Psalm after we lost a pet.
I recalled David’s words of comfort. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (Ps. 23:4). I began to meditate on just that portion. I prayed, “Lord, I have been to that valley before.” This time, though, I began to see it in a new light. Shadow. I had never really paid much attention to that word before. It almost seemed that it would have the same meaning if that word was left out, as in “through the valley of death”. Or would it? Why was this word necessary in this verse? Then, I remembered what causes a shadow. I can only see one when something comes between the sun and I. The “shadow of death” appears when “death” is coming, is here now, or is leaving my presence and it comes between the sun (Son) and I. I was amazed that I’d never considered this before in all of the years I had read this familiar passage. Death’s visits are always painful, but they are temporary. This thought brought me hope.
Look for parallel passages
This technique is life-changing when you do it regularly. It is something that I do all the time.
When you are reading a passage of Scripture and you find a verse or section that you have seen before somewhere else, make it a priority to look up the other passage and think on how both passages reinforce the same truths. What I usually do is to annotate the cross reference in the margin.
For example, I was reading 1 Peter 4. I saw many verses that reminded me of the same truths that are found elsewhere. 1 Peter 4:1 mentions a connection between suffering and being done with sin. I had written in the margin Rom. 6:7, where Paul states that “anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” In 1 Peter 4:2, I read that those who suffer do not live for “evil human desires”, but for God, which is what Paul had written about in Rom. 6:12. In 1 Peter 4:3, he reminds the church scattered throughout Asia about what they did before they met Christ, which Paul addressed in 1 Cor. 6:11.
As I look for parallel passages (some of which are listed in my study Bible), I am very interested in links from the NT back to the OT, and from the OT to the Psalms. This has been a helpful practice.
Explore other possible applications
Another mental exercise that I have found quite helpful is to take what is written and reword it into the converse of what is there to find a new truth, which may give it an extended application. The converse expresses the opposite cause which yields an opposite result. Let me explain further.
For example, in Ps. 1:1-2, we see that a person is blessed if he chooses to “not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” In contrast, this person is also blessed if “his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”
I think that the converse of what was said above is also generally true. If a person chooses to walk in the counsel of the righteous, stand in the way of believers, or sit with those who are humble, he or she would be blessed. Furthermore, you could also say that a person would not be blessed if they hated God’s Word and did not read it regularly. Do you see what I did there, flipping it around like that?
You need to be careful in using this method with all Scriptures. When Jesus says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5), it is not necessarily true that “with Him, you can do everything”.
A closing reminder
May we emulate the humble spirit expressed by the Psalmist: “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word” (Ps. 119:15-16).
About the author:
Russell E. Gehrlein (Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Retired) is a Christian, husband of 40 years, father of three, grandfather of five, and author of the book, Immanuel Labor – God’s Presence in our Profession: A Biblical, Theological, and Practical Approach to the Doctrine of Work, published by WestBow Press in February 2018. He is an ordinary man who is passionate about helping other ordinary people experience God’s presence and integrate their Christian faith at work. He received a B.S. in Mathematics from Colorado State University in 1980 and an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in 2015. He is a former junior/senior high school math and science teacher and youth pastor. After serving 20 years on active duty, Russ now works as a Department of the Army civilian at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Seventy articles that he wrote have been posted or published 130 times on numerous Christian organization’s websites, including: the Center for Faith & Work at LeTourneau University, Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, Coram Deo, Nashville Institute for Faith + Work, Made to Flourish, 4Word Women, Acton Institute, and The Gospel Coalition.
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